Abacus Children's Camp, Suryanelli

The Kalypso team was all geared on a beautiful Tuesday morning for the children’s camp at Suryanelli. On arriving there, we were absolutely taken aback at the scenic splendors of the place. If one were to describe the most beautiful thing they have seen, they would be at a loss for words. Suryanelli seemed to have that kind of an effect on me. Being my first time at the camp there, the first bit of my trip lay in just looking out into the landscape. The one thing that stood out so magnificently was the strip of water running down from the foot of the mountains. What looked like a line of mounds piled in rows and rows and soon disappearing into the mist was Suryanelli. This got me extremely thrilled. I knew the next few days were going to be just brilliant.

A couple of hours after our arrival, we could hear the distant screams of excitement. The children had arrived. They were thrilled. They were like little kids at a candy store. Everyone was running and jumping around, till the sound of the loud whistle hushed them up. “I am hungry” yelled one little kid. They were starving. After a long journey by train and then a long bus ride to Suryanelli, they were exhausted but all set to camp it out. Thus, after a short briefing about the camp, the kids had lunch.

After a heavy and relieving round of lunch, they were divided into two groups. The first, named them IBN (Irritated By Nishit) and the second BC (Butt Crackers). On forming the teams and the spirit of competition slowly beginning, we headed for a tent pitching demo. The teams were asked to watch the guides set up a tent, and later, each team was given open space to pitch four tents each. That got the whole team working together, lot of laughter and fun. They finally successfully pitched eight tents with a little help from the guides. We then started the team games. The two teams were further divided into two groups within their teams and simultaneously had two games going. The kids loved it.

We then moved on for tea after which we had the boy’s tug of war. This was where all the adrenaline came to play. The girls cheering for the boys in their teams at the top of their voice… the boys struggling and the tug of war boy’s champs were “TEAM IBN”.

That wound up all the activities of the first day. The evening ended with a nice camp fire set up for the kids and a lovely dinner.

The next day was a bit of a downer for the children because it started raining but that didn’t kill their spirits. They had a trek arranged for two hours, and they completed it successfully, without any complaints. After lunch and little time to relax, the kids enjoyed the river crossing. Later, the girls had their tug of war competition, which was even more interesting than the boy’s.

The highlight of the entire trip, however was on the third day. The kids were all taken to the lake, where they were made to build a raft and had a few competitions. This was followed by a lunch which was to be prepared by each team with a certain amount of provisions which were provided. The children enjoyed themselves thoroughly. This was the best part of the entire trip for them

The last day concluded with the competition games. And entertainment programmes by the kids. After lunch it was time to depart. All in all, the children found this an experience to remember a long time forward.

Mallya Aditi Children's Camp

The first view of the camp

It was a typically chilly Bangalore morning that greeted the children of Mallya Aditi . The reason, they were about to venture out on a 4 day outdoor camp at Germalam. None of them, including the teachers had any notion of what would be in store for them over the next few days………..…… The first views of the camp send their spirits soaring.

The briefing

On the first day at the camp, the children were busy getting settled in and preparing ourselves mentally and physically for the days ahead. They were split into four groups and asked to come up with names and logo’s for each of our teams.

Team building games

After much deliberations, discussions and heated arguments, the teams finally came out with a few interesting options. Group 1 called themselves Gorbachov’s, Group 2 was Veerapan’s, Group 3 The Haboobies and Group 4 was the Fluorescent Adolescents (F.A). And thus began the camp games, which the children enjoyed thoroughly.

The second day started with a 2 hour trek into the forest and its periphery, where they were on the lookout for wildlife and some interesting varieties of flowering plants that are found in these parts. Although we didn’t have much of a wildlife sighting, we did have a night visitor, a solitary bear, the very same night.

Post lunch, the emphasis was on some team building games. Each of the teams went through the Spider Web, Pipeline, and Minefield.

Tug-O-War

The teams had an opportunity to test their strength with the Tug-O-War. Being a competitive event it was held over the 3 days and team Haboobies proved to be the strongest. We even has an all girls team which created quite an upset when they beat Gorbachov’s.

Love Shack

Now it was time for the teams to build the team shelters. Creative juices flowed, forgotten skill sets were brought out of their closets and spies were send to other team camps for reconnaissance. At the end of it all Team.F.A were declared winners.

En Route to build rafts

The Relay

On Day 3,we were taken to the Tibetan colony nearby. Here we were given detailed instructions and taught the fine art of raft building. After toiling for more than 2 hours we all finally managed to get the team rafts ready. And now we were all set for the raft race. A relay race with 6 in each raft competing against the other teams for the honor of being the first to cross the lake and return. Then they exchange places with another 6 members of their team. After a grueling and closely fought race, Team F.A was declared the winners.

Hungry tired and famished we trundled along. Only to find out that there was a surprise treat waiting for us. Authentic Tibetan Momo’s. We gobbled them up. Prannoy was the momo champion with 8 helpings (After which he had to be carried back in a specially build stretcher).

Cultural Programme

The last and final item on the competitive list was the cultural programme. Each team was allotted 10 – 15 minutes to showcase their talents. We were kept amused by an entourage of talented singers, actors, dancers and musicians.

F.A won the cultural competition too and was crowned the overall champions.

By now we were all starving. A delicious dinner was what we were hoping for and that’s exactly what we go. A sumptuous spread of local cuisine.

Mallya Aditi Team

The last and final day was quite a sad one. The camp was such great fun that none of us wanted to go back. There is no doubting that they will definitely be back soon.